Hug the President. Get boycotted.

You knew this was coming. Scott Van Duzer, the Florida pizza parlor owner and profilic blood donater who hugged and lifted President Barack Obama, now says his pizza shop is getting boycotted by Republicans.

Van Duzer, a registered Republican who voted for Obama in 2008, got some homepage play across the country for his reaction to the president, who made an unscheduled visit Sunday to Big Apple Pizza and Pasta in Fort Pierce. The president said he stopped by because of Van Duzer's commitment to donating blood and raising awareness of blood shortages.

Van Duzer's response? He bear-hugged Obama and lifted the 176-pound president off the floor.

But now, he tells Politico that people are talking bad about his restaurant. Sure enough, a partisan battle broke out on Big Apple Pizza and Pasta's Yelp page, with a sudden flurry of reviewers giving him one-star reviews from far-flung states, followed by presumed Obama supporters lavishing five-star reviews from equally remote locales.

As for the boycotters, they certainly can spend their money in whatever fashion makes them feel better about themselves. But as we've said before about a certain chicken sandwich chain, do we really want to live in a country where people don't want to do business with people who don't share their beliefs? It seems no longer enough to make our arguments; now we make one-dimensional those who don’t share them.

We'll leave the last word to the pizza man:

“There’s no middle line anymore," he says, "and that’s exactly what’s wrong with our country right now.”

Peter St. Onge

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